How To Add an Ebay Affiliate Feed To a Lens (Video)

Using eBay to Monetize Your Squidoo Lens

Time for another amazing video from PotPieGirl!  I get a lot of questions about how to add an eBay RSS feed to a Squidoo lens that has YOUR eBay (ePN) affiliate link embedded in it. Many of us are eBay affiliates and would prefer to use our own eBay affiliate link on our Squidoo lenses.  These RSS feeds are really attractive to your lens readers because they get to SEE what is currently available as far as the product they are looking for. Adding your own eBay RSS feed is super easy to do!  Instead of TELLING you how to add the eBay RSS feed, why not just SHOW you?

Adding an eBay Affiliate RSS Feed to a Squidoo Lens

Author Edit – August 2009

Do not use this technique on your Squidoo lens or any website that you do not own. Ebay Partner Network has changed their policies to reflect that no affiliate traffic can come from websites NOT owned by the affiliate.
End Author Edit

First off, in order to do this, you need to be an eBay affiliate.  The eBay affiliate program is called the eBay Partner Network and you can sign up here – https://publisher.ebaypartnernetwork.com.  You can go to that url and learn all about the eBay affiliate program for your location, their payment details, and all that good stuff.  They pay me monthly via PayPal and it’s one of my favorite affiliate programs.

Here’s my short and sweet video walking you through the steps to create an eBay affiliate RSS feed and get it on your Squidoo lens:

Easy, peasy – Right?

You can use the RSS feed generator at ePN to refine your search in MANY ways.  You can isolate your feed to only show one seller, only products that offer free shipping, and on and on and on.  eBay makes it very easy for you to give the reader exactly what they are looking for.

Feel free to play around with it and get comfortable with the feed generator.  It’s cool stuff…. great for the readers and can add a little more money in your pocket each month, too.

Other News

Lately I have been hard at work on a project that has been a true labor of love.  About two and half years ago, my kids cousin, Jonathan, was killed in a car accident.  Not only was Jonathan family, he was also one of my son’s closest friends.

The word “tragedy” does not even give this event justice on any level.

Jonathan is survived by his mom and dad (Kim and Bruce), his brother, Richard, and sister, Maggie.  Folks, this family is what Richard calls “a miracle family” – and I couldn’t agree more.

I met up with Bruce, Kim, and Richard at my son’s wedding in May.  They are so awesome!  Bruce, Kim, and I got to talking and they told me about a foundation they were creating in Jonathan’s memory.

They are offering scholarships thru the Jonathan Cox Memorial Scholarship program that awards kids free money for college NOT based on grades, or academic achievement, or sports, or community involvement.  The scholarships are awarded based on a simple 500-word essay about “What My Faith and Family Means To Me”.

Not only that, but this family is also reaching out to other families and businesses that would like to create their own scholarship for a loved one or for a cause.  It’s tough to figure out how to start your own scholarship fund – and there is a ton of red tape and paperwork involved.  Bruce and Kim want to ease that burden for others and get their desired scholarship out there and running for them.  Those wanting to start a scholarship will be able to do so on their own terms with their own criteria…with whatever name they want to give it.

As I listened to Bruce tell me what they were doing, it was all I could do to NOT jump up and down and BEG to be a part of it.  Thankfully, I didn’t have to beg, and they gave me the honor of creating the website for the Foundation.

Thank you Bruce, Kim, Richard, and Maggie!

They keep thanking ME, but I’m here to tell you… I am honored to be a part of something so great.

I’d like to introduce you to the Faith and Family Legacy Foundation – http://www.faithandfamilylegacy.org .  I hope you take a look around, read the family’s story here, and read their mission… and if you feel so inclined, send them a donation and become a Faith and Family Legacy Foundation sponsor.

Above all – if you know a family or a business or organization that would like to start their own scholarship in memory of a loved one (or for ANY reason), please send them to the Faith and Family Legacy site.  Bruce and Kim will help them and turn their dream of a scholarship fund into a reality.

Thank you for allowing me to speak about this.  I have hundreds of websites, but this site, BY FAR, was the hardest to create – but it means more to me than everything I do online combined (and then some).

They are amazing people and I hope that they can help an amazing family in your life.

Newsletter Coming

That’s right, another edition of  “Straight Talk with PotPieGirl” will be coming out soon.  It’s a good one, too!  If you’re on any of my lists (here, at 6StepNicheSites.com, or at OneWeekMarketing.com) you will be receiving the newsletter by email.  If you’re not, you better get signed up so you don’t miss out!

I love doing these newsletters… I can just ramble endlessly about whatever is on my mind and share any cool finds I’ve come across, too.  The newsletter should be out in the next couple of days… hopefully sooner.

You can read past issues of my newsletter by clicking these links:

Straight Talk With PotPieGirl – Issue #1

Straight Talk with PotPieGirl – Issue #2

Ok, that’s all from me today.  I hope the video helped you out and you can now easily get your eBay affiliate feeds on your Squidoo lenses.

Have a great day!

16 Comments

  1. If you’re interested in an even easier way to generate RSS Feeds from eBay, there’s a tool on SquidUtils.com that will do just that. These feeds are optimised to look great on any lens. Example and instructions below…

    🙂

  3. Jennifer,

    Again this is terrific information. I did not know you could do this with a lens. Considering I only have two up I now need to get on it! Thank you so much Jennifer.

  4. Thanks for the tip. Squidoo can be a bit tricky sometimes to add stuff like this. You think using such a feed cause problems with the new Squidoo policy changes?

    Gunter

  5. PotPieGirl says:

    No, Gunter… I don’t see any issues with the new policies and eBay affiliate feeds.

    Good question tho!

  6. There are awesome yet simple tips Ebay monetizing methods…just what newbies like are looking for..

  7. It looks like eBay are implementing some changes to their policies that will mean we can’t do this any more. Read the blog posts ‘Will Squidoo have to end its eBay relationship?‘ and comments for details…

    Bottom line: The Suidoo’s eBay module will be okay to use, but putting eBay feeds on a lens won’t be. I’m hoping I’m wrong.

  8. PotPieGirl says:

    I just commented on the post you linked to, Fluff… thank you for sharing it.

    However, I see it completely different. I see the Squidoo eBay modules running into some issues, but NOT individual eBay affiliate links and feeds.

    eBay is trying to get rid of the ‘sub-affiliate’ model. ie, I let you use my eBay affiliate links on your site and I pay you your earnings.

    Anyone who is paid their eBay affiliate earnings from a source that is NOT the eBay Partner Network might very well be considered a “sub-affiliate” and be affected by this change.

    That’s what Squidoo does, right? They let us use their affiliate code and then SQUIDOO pays us our eBay commissions.

    When we use our OWN eBay links and feed, Ebay Partner Network pays us directly.

    To me, it means it might be getting to where it is BETTER to use our own links and feeds.

    Above all, I think eBay might want to take the time to clarify exactly what they mean. It is obviously open to varying interpretations.

    Thanks!

    Jennifer
    ~PotPieGirl

  9. PotPieGirl says:

    Just to follow up….

    After reading trying to gain more insight and clarification, I am now even MORE confused than ever.

    Wow, eBay sure is the King of Non Answers, aren’t they?

    In short, two main things I wonder about….

    1. Is Squidoo a “sub-affiliate” model or a “SUPER-affiliate” model? This makes a world of difference.

    2. Using our own RSS feeds and eBay links…. We have to literally OWN the page we place these links on now? ie, Free sites and pages cannot link directly to eBay any more?

    In short, the forum posts I have read make it sound as if this is what’s happening… If YOU don’t OWN the site, you can not directly link to eBay from that site.

    They used the example of Twitter due to folks Tweeting their eBay links. What they seem to want is people to Tweet links to their OWN sites now, and not directly to eBay.

    I understand how some others might abuse the ability to make free pages and blindly link to eBay with their affiliate link, but good gracious, how can removing that option to promote ebay listings for EVERYONE be a GOOD idea??

    So totally confused.

  10. There are, I believe, two distinct changes happening with the eBay policies, both announced in May:

    1) no more ad networks; middle-men like PepperJam that let you (as a sub-affiliate) create links and ads on your own site through their EPN account. Squidoo, on the other-hand, is a super-affiliate with a very large site driven by ‘user generated content’ and ‘revenue sharing’.

    2) affiliates can only put links (and feeds) on sites that they own, excluding free blogs, lenses and hubs. Amazon have started making similar rules, as they now exclude Twitter traffic from commissions.

    You’re right, it’s all very confusing, and no one seems to have a clear answer yet. Hopefully Squidoo will figure out where we stand and let us know…

  11. Since I am trying to figure out how to do this then…and I do not yet have my own site, would you say it might be best to just use squidoo’s modules?

  12. These sub-affiliate and super affiliate changes is just one more way for ebay to reduce the vast amount of affiliate commissions paid out at once from super high volume traffic domains like squidoo and hubpages, etc.

    Perhaps the affiliate model , we once knew, for these larger companies like ebay and amazon may not be as profitable for them as it once was.

  13. There are awesome yet simple tips Ebay monetizing methods…

  15. PotPieGirl says:

    Thanks, Fluff!

    Looks like I’ve got work to do =(

  16. Thanks! That was super easy. You inspired me to update my Squidoo lens today!

Comments are closed.